Muslims with Tattoos: The Punk Muslim Community in Indonesia

Abstract

Tattooing is becoming increasingly popular in the predominantly Muslim country of Indonesia. While mainstream society continues to perceive the tattooing practice negatively, many individual Muslims attach positive personal meaning to tattooing. This paper provides some of the academic insights into contemporary perceptions of tattooing among Indonesian Muslims. It focuses on the existence of ‘Punk Muslims’ community whose tattoos form an important part of their cultural identity and on responses to their tattooing practices from the wider society. Data were collected by means of individual interviews, a focus group discussion, and interactive social media communication. This paper reveals that Punk Muslim community has personal meaning of tattoo, while society has different perception. This community considers to maintain their cultural identity as punker symbolized by tattoo and Islam signed by worship.[Tato menjadi semakin populer di negara mayoritas Muslim seperti Indonesia. Ketika sebagian besar masyarakat memandang tato secara negatif, banyak juga Muslim secara pribadi memiliki pendapat positif terhadap tato. Artikel ini menyuguhkan beberapa wawasan akademik atas persepsi kontemporer terhadap tato dalam masyarakat Muslim di Indonesia. Fokus dari artikel ini meliputi eksistensi komunitas Punk Muslim yang menganggap tato telah membentuk bagian sangat penting dari identitas kultural mereka dan juga fokus pada respons dari masyarakat terhadap praktik bertato. Data penelitian dikumpulkan dari interview secara personal, diskusi kelompok terumpun, dan komunikasi interaktif di media sosial. Artikel ini menyatakan bahwa komunitas Punk Muslim memiliki makna personal atas tato ketika masyarakat memiliki penilaian yang berbeda. Komunitas ini mempertimbangkan untuk mempertahamkan identitas kultural sebagai anak punk yang disimbolkan dengan tato dan sebagai orang Islam yang disimbolkan dengan ibadah.]

Islam and Body Discipline: Remove Tattoos and Da'wah Paths of Hijrah Care Community

“…From the standpoint of mainstream legal perspectives within the general Islamic community, tattoos are considered prohibited based on religious evidence and interpretations. From this perspective, there is no legal tolerance that permits tattoos, making the legal stance on tattoos singular and prohibited (Rokib & Sodiq, 2017). "Before I had my tattoo removed, I searched for studies regarding tattoos and their associated laws through online platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.…”

“…Starting from that question, let's trace how tattoos are viewed from various perspectives. In (Rokib & Sodiq, 2017), mentions that tattoos are considered symbols that contradict religious values in mainstream religious interpretations because they are seen as invalidating a Muslim's religious standing. Within the mainstream discourse of the Muslim community, tattoos are seen in certain circumstances as symbols that can hinder religious validity, such as praying to God, worshiping, and tattoos are viewed as something that can invalidate ablution.…”

“…On the other hand, aside from the religious context, Rokib mentions that in the perspective of the Muslim Punk Community, tattoos are seen as a cultural or distinctive identity, while spirituality and piety are considered separate realms. According to him, spirituality is an intuitive realm that is transcendental in nature and not influenced by symbolic elements (Rokib & Sodiq, 2017). Silke Wohrlab also sees the same thing; she believes that tattoos are not just seen as body accessories of individuals with tattoos.…”

Body Modification in East Asia: History and Debates

“…27-35). More recently, new tattooing subcultures have also appeared in South Korea (Park, 2015) and Indonesia (Hegarty, 2017;Rokib & Sodiq, 2017). In the Philippines, where the revival of Southeast Asian tribal tattoos in the West has come full circle, indigenous tattoo designs known only from European illustrations more than four centuries old are once again providing inspiration for Filipino body art (Jaldon, 2011).…”

Rethinking the Art of Tattoo: A Perspective of Indonesian Women Tattoo Community

“…It is proven that tattooing has been involved a painful sensation and also seen negative. In Indonesia, tattoos are seen as something 'contrast' with society norms (Rokib & Sodiq, 2017). Handoko and Along (as cited in Handoko & Green, 2020) have explained that tattoos still create negative feelings within a broader conservative Javanese society.…”